Sports

Devlin: Wrestling is here to stay ... at prep level

Brush wrestler Macky Sandoval wrestled his way into a top regional finish as one of 10 Beetdigger grapplers hitting the mats at the state tournament this weekend at the Pepsi Center. (Photo by Ayla Newman, Photographer/Special to the Brush News-Tribune.)

Isn't it interesting that the International Olympic Committee's decision to cancel wrestling for the 2020 Games came so close to the 78th state tournament that begins Thursday at the Pepsi Center?

Fret not. Coloradans won't have to scratch this seven-year itch.

Why pay attention to IOC foolishness when more than 40,000 fans will attend the state's most popular high school gathering over a three-day span?

True, wrestling can be confounding. But in this state, it's thriving and worth keeping.

It's a sport with a crystal-clear objective, yet is widely misunderstood. There are Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestlers in the amateur ranks, but the offerings that have been on television and in small-town arenas for decades, called professional wrestling, are clearly staged.

At the prep level, wrestling is the sixth-most popular sport nationally, with more than 272,000 competitors, a number bolstered by more than 8,200 girls. At the collegiate level, though, it's a sport that has often been a prime cut because of budget woes and the implementation of Title IX.

More cultlike than mainstream, wrestling has been around for centuries. Abraham Lincoln supposedly was fond of it. That's good enough for me.

There's so much to enjoy. Takedowns. Pins. Reversals. Back points, Technical fouls. Superior decisions. Penalty points. Overtime. Escapes. Having your arm raised after a victory. Shaking hands before and after each match, including with opposing coaches.

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Seeing your father in your corner next to your coach during a match. Winning a medal. Hearing your name during introductions. Is there anything like walking onto the arena floor during the parade of champions?

And that's only what we see from the stands. What we don't see is the demanding practice regimen most wrestlers face.

You've seen the commercials touting so-called insanity workouts? I'll bet those folks wouldn't last 10 minutes in a wrestling room that might more accurately be called a sauna.

What else could be more rewarding than going one-on-one and deciding who's better? The bond between a coach and a wrestler rivals any teacher-pupil relationship. To wrestle, you have to be committed.

It's not for everyone, but it welcomes all shapes and sizes of athletes, all demographics.

Wrestlers can cut weight or gain weight. They have diets that would embarrass Jenny Craig. Who cares if most participants are out of their element when competing in other sports?

Go ahead. Try to kill the sport. Past, present and future generations won't buy it. All you have to do is go to the Pepsi Center this week for proof.